This invention relates to a series of connected stuffed sealed envelope assemblies and method of making the same, and, more particularly, to a method and article which overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.
A widely used mailer is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,104,799. This featured a series of connected stuffed, sealed envelopes which are made from continuous webs of paper by a forms manufacturer. At the time of manufacture, certain information or indicia common to all of the envelope assemblies can be printed on the webs, viz., the name of the sender, a framework or pattern for the inscribing of invoice information, etc. These assemblies are zig-zag folded and shipped to a user (frequently a manufacturer) who operates a computer to print invoice information or the like through the envelope onto the interior plies. Thereafter, the assemblies are separated one from another and mailed to the manufacturers' customer. Thus, there are three distinct phases in the life of a mailer assembly where operation can be optimized: manufacture, computer printing, and recipient handling.
At the outset, it should be appreciated that this is a large volume business: the three largest business form companies in the U.S. plus a number of smaller companies produce about a billion mailer forms annually, representing many millions of dollars of sales. Thus, anything that can be done to conserve on paper usage can be meaningful -- even though the savings per form might seemingly be slight.
Another problem or challenge associated with the manufacture of mailer forms is the need for registration or alignment of the control margins of the various plies. The control margins are the widely employed 1/2 inch wide integral portions along the longitudinal sides of each web that are equipped with line holes. The line holes are engaged by pin belts for advancing the various webs during manufacture and in the subsequent usage for computer printout are engaged by similar pin belts for advancing the webs at intermittent, high speed. Normally, the pins have a diameter of 0.150 inches while the line holes are normally 0.156 inches, yielding a small clearance of 0.006 inches. When a number of plies are assembled, small misregistrations or misalignments in the various webs during manufacture can create a problem during the computer printout. It will be immediately apparent that the more plies that must be aligned, the greater the problem of keeping the line hole openings clear enough for the pins. Hence, manufacturing speeds have had to be limited in order to get proper alignment of the line holes in the various plies. It will be appreciated that small misalignments occurring during the laying down of the various webs one on another can, in the aggregate, seriously reduce the net line hole opening so that when the mailer form is advanced to the computer, there is faulty engagement and possible stoppage of work. This frustrates one of the principal advantages of mailer forms, i.e., high speed, continuous computer printout.
A third problem or challenge that exists during the manufacturing operation and which has a definite effect during the use thereof in conjunction with the computer printout is the phenomenon of "tenting". Tenting is a condition which results when several plies of paper (which have been fastened rigidly by gluing) are folded. The innermost ply has the shortest path. Each outer ply must be folded around a larger radius -- with the result that a misregistration occurs, i.e., a given position on one ply does not correspond to the same position on another ply. This occurs particularly when the glue dries, after folding.
If the glue dries before folding, as might be accomplished by running at slow speeds or using hot melt glues, then the problem is different. First, some tenting occurs because the different radius problem still exists. Secondly, some tearing of the cross perforation ties occurs which helps relieve stress. If the ties are wide enough to start with, enough strength remains. Third, that portion of the difference in radius path which is not absorbed because of tenting or cross perforation tie tearing shows up in a fluffiness of the pack due to the unequal length of the various plies between folds. This fluffiness (the pack of forms does not lie flat and solid) results in wrinkles that become ironed into the plies by the weight of the pack and tight packing in the carton -- resulting in an unacceptable appearance.
This misregistration is particularly serious when it is understood that mailers are printed from the outside, i.e., from the envelope front. This unavoidable misregister becomes even more disadvantageous when the form is unfolded, incident to feeding through computer printout equipment. The outer plies that follow the longer path can no longer slide back into register because the glue is fully dried while the forms are in the folded pack so that they form a peak that sticks up, giving the business form a much greater thickness at that point. The peak interferes at the computer pin feeding mechanism, causing jam-ups, tearing of forms, and even damage to the computer equipment.
Another problem exists in the need for maintaining a fairly close register of the various plies within the mailer. Should one of the plies shift relative to the others, the printout information will fall in an improper location, possibly vitiating the usefulness of the entire mailer.
Still another problem exists when the mailer is received by the intended recipient. By the time the mailer is sent through the mails, the control margins have usually been removed so the recipient gets an envelope which is characterized by a line of perforation along one side. Normally this line of perforation is characterized by a thumb-notch so that when the small strip is removed from the envelope side or end, a portion of the interior plies is exposed through the thumb notch for convenience in removal. Some mailers provide this feature but others by virtue of their construction and method of manufacture are inherently incapable of providing this advantageous opening mechanism. Thus, depending upon the particular form, the recipient may mutilate or even destroy the mailer and its contents in the attempt to open the same. This may result in the loss of a return envelope or other important information. Manifestly, it would be desirable to provide a foolproof opening feature in a mass produced, mass inscribed mailer.
In some instances, those in the art have tried to achieve registration by employing a perforated connection on the insert plies at the end thereof opposite the tear strip. When this feature is employed, the manufacturer usually tries to instruct the recipient to "snap out" the inserts, a procedure that can be made to work by those only having experience and practice. Most recipients do not have this experience and practice so they do the most natural thing. They tear off the opening (tear off) strip. This leaves the inside plies still attached to the opposite end. No matter how weak the ties of the perforations are, the inside plies do not come out when the recipient pulls on them in the natural way. His reaction tends to be that something is wrong with the form and in frustration, pulls on them rather sharply. If the perforation bonds or ties are weak enough, the plies do come out but in many cases, the inside plies tear. Even further with this construction, the perforations on the opposite side are made with a rotary wheel that cuts the paper except where a notch in the cutter results in a tie or bond (uncut portion). It is not possible to position this tie in relation to the form by this method. The tie comes every so often but falls in a random location on the form. If on a given form the location of the tie is in a disadvantageous location (too near the top or bottom of the inside ply) an increased danger exists of tearing of a corner of the ply. Thus, in attempting to solve certain problems, other problems were introduced.
None of the prior art mailers has solved all of the foregoing problems. For example, the wiidely employed mailer of prior U.S. Pat. 3,104,799 does achieve inside ply registration and foolproof openability (on one wide forms) but lacks the advantageous characteristics of conserving paper, achieving line hole registration and avoidance of tenting. On the very popular two-wide forms (printed two-wide at the computer), the foolproof openability of the U.S. Pat. No. 3,104,799 patent does not exist. On two-wide forms made in accordance with the U.S. Pat. No. 3,104,799 patent teaching, the opposite end is tied with perforations on one side of the two-wide form.
A second prior art U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,827 shows two attempts to overcome the tenting problem. One attempt provides that the plies inside be individual pieces of paper, smaller in both width and length in the envelope and not continuous. However, this was done at the expense of ply registration -- a substantial spacing being required to avoid connecting the inside plies to the glue lines. A second attempt in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,827 patent utilizes a very weak "frangible" glue to hold the smaller individual plies in the envelope in place. The glue must be very weak in order to extract the plies inside conveniently and without tearing them. If it is too weak, it fails to hold the plies in register. If there is more than one ply inside, the glue appears on the face of some of the inside plies which is objectionable to the user and recipient -- and if carbon plies are required between the inside plies the glue does not stick to the waxy side of the carbon ply. Because of these drawbacks, the U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,827 patent structure has been used very limitedly -- it has not been considered suitable where the mailer has a number of inside plies.
The seriousness of the registration of the inside plies was addressed by the structure shown in prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,971 in which embossments were provided in the back ply of the envelope to restrict the movement of the loose plies inside. Although the movement of the plies inside can be more limited than when only the peripheral glue lines are used (as in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,827 patent), practical commercial tolerances in the location of the embossments, the placement of the inside plies in manufacture and their movement under inertia forces of the stop and start indexing of the computer pin feed mechanism, results in more misregistration than is desired of the plies inside -- particularly at the moment of computer printout.
Another possible approach to the solution of the various problems outlined above can be found in Canadian Pat. No. 937,905. This patent discloses an envelope assembly where the insert material is shorter than the envelope so as to avoid tenting but teaches that both ends of the insert plies are adhesively secured in the control margins -- this ostensibly to avoid the problem of misregister. However, this requires the use of more paper, does not solve the problem of pin hole misregister, and does not provide for the convenient foolproof manner of opening necessary to optimize the use of mailers. The teaching of the Canadian Pat. No. 937,905 patent is an extreme one to solve the inside ply registration problem. It gains the possibility of cross chip paper savings but adds to the wastepaper on at least one side. It does not solve the pin hole register problem nor does it solve the foolproof opening on either one wide or two-wide forms. Because this patent does not mention material savings attributed to the cross chip area, the implication is that the form was made by having the inside plies equal in length to the envelope plies (in continuous webs) and then having the chips cut out, the common method for mailer production.
Through the instant invention, all of the foregoing problems or challenges are met and solved. In one preferred form of the invention, the mailer has the front and back plies adhered together along the transverse lines between adjacent assemblies and also along a longitudinally extending line inward of one of the control margins, the periphery of the insert material being spaced inwardly from the three just mentioned lines of adhesive. The assembly is further characterized by aligned lines of perforation in each of the plies which extend parallel to but are spaced within 1 inch inwardly of the other control margin so as to define an attaching portion in the insert ply. Still further, adhesive means are provided adjacent the other of the control margins and spaced inwardly thereof joining the front and back plies together and the attaching portion to at least one of the front and back plies.
With this construction and the method of making, there is a distinct saving in paper (both in the "chip" area and width), there is an avoidance of the misalignment of the line holes, tenting is avoided, register is achieved in all of the plies and the advantageous foolproof opening achieved -- this on both one and two wide forms. Further, an additional accrues during manufacture because small misregisters can be tolerated in the individual insert plies without affecting the computer operation -- thereby permitting higher speeds of manufacture not reliably realized in the prior art constructions.
Other objects and advantages may be seen in the details of construction, manufacture and operation set forth in the ensuing specification.